williams



.UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALFRED H. WILLIAMS, OF PEOKHAM, COUNTY OF SURREY, ENGLAND.

PON

TON.

r SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 280,272, dated June26, 1883.

Application filed March 1, 1883. N0 model.) Patented in England August16, 1882, No. 3,925.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ALFRED HAMLYN WILL- IAMS,a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at Peckham, in thecounty of Surrey, England, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Pontons, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvedcoir struction of ponton orair-vessel for use in'the formation of military bridges, for raisingsunken vessels, for saving life and property at sea, and for other likepurposes; and it consists in the peculiar form and construction of thesame, as will be hereinaftermore fully described.

My invention will be understood by reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which Figure l is a side elevation of my improved ponton.Fig. 2 is a plan thereof; Fig- 3, a transverse section on line was inFig. 1; Fig. 4, a plan of one of the sections or halves .de-

tached; Fig. 5, a longitudinal section taken on line 3/ 3 of Fig. 2,showing the sections or halves lying one within the other. Fig. 6 is asection, drawn to a larger scale, of the upper and lower flanges,showing the method of forming the same and the arrangement of thepacking.

According to my invention my improved ponton or air-vessel isconstructed in two detachable sections, A A preferably halves, which areof such shape or form that when not in use they may lie and be packedone within the other, as shown in Fig. 5, for the purposes ofeconomizing space in storage and rendering them readily transportable.These portions are made of thin sheets of iron or other suitablematerial, and preferably of an oblong externally convex form, as shown.Each portion or half is furnished with a flange, a a that marked a beingprovided with suitable packing, b, which is held in place by the flangebeing turned over on it or reflexed, as

shown in Fig. 6, so that'when the twoflanged portions or halves are puttogether to constitute the ponton an air and water tight casing orvessel is formed. The flanged portions or halves, when fixed in place,are held together by buttons 0, which are pivoted to the flange a andare arranged to turn over the flange a when the sections of the pontonare fitted together.

the pontons or the ponton itself when built up.

The flange a, I form on the 'portion or section A by simply bending overthe edge of the latter; but the flange a I prefer to strengthen and backby a flange-plate, e, as shown in Fig. 6. To prevent the flange a fromsliding on the packing b, I prefer to secure a roughened plate, f, tothe under face of said flange to rest upon the packing. These featuresare shown best in Fig. 6, wherein the flanges are drawn to a largerscale.

It will be observed that the two halves or sections A and A of my pontonare of the same size; but owing to their peculiar convex shape one fitssnugly within the other, as shown in Fig. 5. This construction enablesme to pack or nest the halves to any extent for convenience intransportation, as many as one hundred sections being readily packedwithin set up.

I am aware that pontons have been proposed made up of sections, and thatit has been proposed to make a ponton of two cylindrical flangedsections, one section being capable of telescoping with the other; butit is obvious that only the two sections of one ponton can bethus fittedtogether, while with my construction the number capable of being nestedis practically unlimited. This application of the principle of nestinglike halves of pontons suitable flanges and fastening devices, I believeto be new.

claim 1. A ponton composed of two flanged sections of like size, andshaped substantially as shown, whereby they will nest or pack closely inany number, as described, for storage and transportation, and one ofsaid sections provided with fastening devices, substantially asdescribed, whereby the sections may be secured together in setting upthe ponton, as set forth.

2. A ponton composed of two oblong externally-convex flanged sections, Aand A one transportation, and one of said sections prod are handles,which are fixed at each endof the sections for the purposes of readilymanipulating 'and transporting the portions of the space occupied by asingle ponton when adapted to fit within the other for packing and madeconvex exteriorly, and provided with.

Having thus described my invention, I

IOO

vided with buttons adapted to take over the fastening devices 0 andhandles d, substanflange on the other for the purpose of securing tiallyas set forth. 1 the sections together, substantially as set forth.In'witness whereof I have hereunto signed 15 3. The combination, toforrnaponton, of the my name in the presence of two subscribing. sectionA, provided with a flange, a, and the witnesses. section A provided witha flange, a a packing, 1), retained in place by the reflexed-edge ALFREDHAMLYN WILLIAMS of the flange, and fastening devices a, substan-\Vitnesses: tially as set forth. WILLIAM LEE,

4. Aponton constructed of two flanged sec- 68 Fleet Street, London.tions or halves, A and A provided with a G. WV. WESTLEY, suitablepacking between the flanges, and with. 17 Graceehwch Street, London.

